Political Posts and the Minimal Group Paradigm

It’s a tool social scientists use when examining the minimal conditions required for discrimination to occur between groups.

Basically, it describes the development of the “us” vs. “them” mentality.

Not only has it been proven that we quickly identify with our own group and create negative views of outsiders, but the categories that we use to develop those identifications are often more minor and arbitrary than you might think or hope.

All it takes is one post for an online connection to label you as “not like me” and then it’s going to be that much harder to develop a relationship and do business together.

One of my first mentors taught me a great shorthand question to decide if you should take an action in business.

He suggested that I simply ask, “Will this help or will this hurt?” before I moved forward.

So the question is, “Do political posts help or hurt?”

Your post about your favorite candidate or opinion might create a connection between those who already agree with you, but it will drive away those who don’t.

In the past, we would develop robust relationships with colleagues, clients, and coworkers and we would create a strong “we” as we interacted in daily life.

Then, if we realized we might not see eye-to-eye on a political question, it wouldn’t torpedo the whole relationship.

These days, the superficiality of conversations on digital media causes problems because we don’t have a chance to create nuanced and robust relationships.

About David J.P. Fisher

David J.P. Fisher (D. Fish) is a speaker, business coach, and best-selling author. He combines nuanced strategy and real-world tactics to help professionals become more effective, efficient, and happy.